Final Thoughts
by C-Spider2
Summary: Set during the few minutes before the most important duel of his life, a young teen contemplates his journey and his growth.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, but I do own some cards.**

**Author's Note: All right. I sort of consider this to be slightly AU, since in here, I decided that Yugi and his friends decided to retire from dueling and let other people be the King of Games. This isn't a duel or anything, but it's the lead-up to a huge duel, and it's just the thoughts of the main character about it. Give me your opinions if I should continue the story and feature the duel, or just leave it like it is.**

**And here we go.**

* * *

I stood in the hallway, feeling like my stomach was about to explode.

This was it. The big duel. Everyone in Domino City had gathered to watch this duel, it was so huge. The King of Games versus me. The duelist that, only two years ago, everyone had made fun of.

I felt my deck stir, and within moments, I was surrounded by my ace cards. My closest friends, besides Austin and Mike.

"What's wrong, Aaron?" Disc Fighter asked, crouching and looking up at me. He spun his saws idly in his hands, chains hanging from his waist. I could honestly say he was my second favorite monster, not counting how many times he's helped me win a tight duel.

"Nothing, Disc," I said. "Just…nerves."

"That's not the only thing that's bothering you," a voice behind me stated boldly. I turned to face a warrior wearing dark armor with golden trimming, who I could tell was looking at me with a frown on his face, despite him wearing a helmet. His sword was sheathed, which surprised me, considering that he liked to flaunt it around so much. "You're scared that everyone will mock you again. But you shouldn't worry about that," Buster Blader continued. "Unless you lose this duel. Then you will still be severely mocked.

I glared at him. "Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically. "Remind me why you're one of my aces again?"

"But he is right," A quiet voice drew my attention to a holy looking warrior wearing golden-white armor with angelic, metal wings. He had two swords strapped to his waist, and his chest plate had a green orb on it. "You are afraid of being ridiculed again. And that may impair your dueling ability."

I sighed. "Utopia, you're really not helping me here."

"But you aren't helping yourself." A clock with eyes, legs, and arms floated by my shoulder, adjusting his cape and hat as he did so. "You still assume that you will be dealt with criticism." Time Wizard said. "But just think on how much you've improved since last you've dueled him!" He waved his staff around just to emphasize his point. Somehow.

I could still recall those days. I had had a deck with two-hundred cards in it (don't ask why, most of them were in there just because I thought they looked cool. I still don't why they let me duel though. Maybe they were just humoring me.) And I got my ass whooped. Repeatedly. And badly. I mean, some duels I didn't even scratch the other person's Life Points, that's just how bad I was.

Then came that fateful duel.

There was a massive tournament being held in the Duel Tower, with almost every duelist in Domino City participating. And the prize for winning? The title of the King of Games. That's right. Whoever won the tournament was the official King of Games for all of Domino City.

Guess who my first duel was with?

Yep. The future King of Games.

I lost to him, of course, but that wasn't what made it so fateful. What made it change the course of my dueling career was what happened afterward.

After my loss, I was ridiculed by him. My dueling skill was mocked, and my deck was insulted so badly I could almost feel my cards sagging in shame. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal. I was used to being made fun of. It was a daily occurrence, just like getting shoved into lockers and punched in the face was. But that was always private. It wasn't made into a public thing.

What made it so horrible was that everyone was there to witness it. And by everyone, I mean everyone. My friends, my family, my classmates, almost everyone in Domino City was there to see it.

And they all laughed at me. Well, my friends and family didn't, but everyone else did. I remember feeling so hurt that people would be this cruel to me. I remember Austin and Mike giving me pitying grimaces. I remember Liz looking sadly at me before trying to give me a reassuring smile. I remembered Henry, one of my tormentors at school, laughing and pointing at me, saying "Look at the little loser! Is he crying? What a dork!" But that wasn't what stung me the most.

What stung me the most was looking in my brother's face and realizing he agreed with everything that the future King had said. After all those years of teaching me how to play Duel Monsters, he had decided that I wasn't worth it anymore. That was what had broken me.

I ran from the arena then, not caring if people laughed at me or noticed my crying. My self-esteem had been completely shattered, and all I really knew was that my deck was the only one that wasn't pitying me or laughing at me.

After that day, I ran from home. I knew it wasn't fair to my family and friends, but I had to do it. I had to find out what life really meant to me. I felt bad, but it was something that I had to do.

"Don't forget about your journey," An elf wearing leather armor spoke up. Obnoxious Celtic Guard, one of my most reliable friends. "You learned a lot about dueling and improved a lot."

I smiled a little as I remembered those days away from home. I wandered around the country, taking buses when I could and walking when I couldn't. I dueled a bunch of people, who, instead of mocking me, gave me tips and advice. I didn't like it at first, because it just sounded like they were criticizing my cards, but after a while I started to realize that they were just trying to help. So I started following what they said.

Things started to turn around for me.

"You know, the reason you started winning was because of me, right?" A heavily armored warrior hefting a massive hammer over his shoulder jabbed a thumb at himself like he was the best thing since peanut butter. "ME! The Heroic Challenger - WAR HAMMER!" And with that, he slammed his hammer into the ground, causing a loud Bang! The other Duel Spirits shook their heads at this. I noticed Heroic Champion - Excalibur with his head in his hands, and forced myself to keep from grinning.

The first thing that I noticed after applying other people's advice was that I began to win duels. That alone was an astounding feat, because I never won a duel back at Domino City. The next thing was that I started to notice cards that just didn't seem to work for me. I put them into my collection, and then I realized what good cards I had in my collection that I had never noticed. I started putting them in my deck. I got new cards and replaced old ones. I started developing strategies, reading my opponent's strategies.

By this time, I was winning about eighty percent of my duels. Some I had some trouble beating, and others just thrashed me, but one thing that all of them agreed on was that I was a really good duelist.

I had begun to make it in the dueling world.

"And," a goblin in a helicopter, Goblindbergh, spoke from above me. "Don't forget when you first came back to Domino City how you completely owned the shit out of most of the duelists here!"

That was true. After two years of going around the country, I finally decided that it was time to return to Domino City. When I first returned, I stopped to visit my parents and apologize for probably worrying the hell out of them. My mom burst into tears when she opened the door for me, and she gave me such a big hug that I half-believed that she had caused internal hemorrhaging. My dad sort of stared at me for a bit before giving me his own bear-hug (after that, I was sure that I had some sort of internal injury).

Then I visited my friends.

When I found them, Austin and Liz were dueling each other, with Mike and Benedict on the sidelines. When they saw me, Austin and Liz canceled their duel and everyone gave me a huge hug (at that point I was convinced one of my lungs was punctured). Liz even surprised me by giving me a quick kiss on the lips, though she denied it when I asked about it later.

Anyway. Back to my friends.

After all the hugging had finally ended, we had sat down and chatted about what we had done in the past two years. Mike and Benedict were getting ready to go into business sponsoring professional duelists, while Liz was going into pro dueling. Austin, I was surprised to hear, had actually become champion of the National Tournament and dueled the King of Games. "I did pretty well, considering." Austin had said. "He is the best, but I did nearly get him down to 2000 life points before he turned it around. Didn't you hear about that?" He looked at me curiously.

"Er, no. I sort of avoided any news about the King." Despite all these years, I still had an aversion to the best duelist of the world. That, and my brother…

Austin understood instantly and changed the topic to our ace cards. Everyone seemed surprised when I named off my ace cards, mostly because I had more than one. "Well," I replied when Mike asked why so many aces. "All of them have helped me win duels more than once. Besides, what's wrong with having more than one ace?" They didn't have a response to that.

Then it happened. The thing that led me here.

Austin challenged me to a duel. "I want to see how good you've gotten for myself." He had grinned while saying this. "No holding back, all right?"

I agreed, and then we started our duel. He had gone first, wanting to show me how far he had advanced his skills. And he had gotten a lot better, since he managed to summon his ace with just a few cards. Then he turned it over to me, daring me to do the same.

I did better. I won in my first turn.

Everyone seemed kind of stunned at that, myself included. I hadn't been really thinking when I did my turn; I sort of just did things instinctively. But looking back at it, attacking with a monster with 16000 ATK points in the first turn seemed a little excessive. When I tried apologizing, though, Austin just looked at me, and said:

"Dude. You could go up against the King of Games and win."

And that started a journey of me challenging several people in the city until my record was high enough to challenge the King of Games, and now led me here, to this hallway, where I waited for the announcer to call my name.

"Ladies and gentleman, this is your host…" A booming voice echoed from the entrance ten yards in front of me.

Oh god. This was it.

Panic started to seize me. Thoughts of jeering faces and mocking laughter filled my mind. I couldn't do this. I started to back up, shaking my head. "Guys, I can't. I can't do this-"

Then a hand clasped my shoulder, firm but reassuring. "Yes. You can."

A sudden sense of calm washed over me. I knew who it was immediately before looking over my shoulder. Even though all these other monsters were my aces too, this was my true ace. My favorite card in the game. The one that I always drew strength and reassurance from.

Dark Magician looked down at me, his blue, red-trimmed armor gleaming. His eyes, a dark blue, gazed down at me. He looked almost like a parent: supportive, but willing to put me back on the right track in a heartbeat, even if I didn't like it. "You don't have to live by the opinions of others. You can find your own strength, strength to believe in yourself and your courage. Even if you lose, you can improve, and one day, you will be able to beat him. It might be tomorrow, it might even be today. But I will not allow you to leave this place without attempting to win."

I gazed into his face and nodded. "Right. Thanks." My confidence was suddenly back. I looked forward, and walked towards the entrance. My friends vanished, all but Dark Magician, who walked beside me. I felt as if the world could throw everything at us, and we wouldn't be fazed. I had my closest ace with me, and that wouldn't change a thing.

I emerged from the hallway, looking around at the spectators. All of the stands were filled with screaming, cheering fans. I saw my mom and dad standing at the railing with my friends, cheering for me. As I looked at my friends, I saw their ace monsters come out and acknowledge me as well. Red-Eyes Zombie Dragon stood behind Austin and gave a roar of welcome to me. Ancient Gear Gadjiltron Dragon rose behind Mike, gazing at me with a kind of bemusement in its eyes. Cyber Dragon coiled around Benedict, while Cyber End Dragon floated behind them, both giving an electronic bellow upon seeing me. And beside Liz, Mobius the Frost Monarch nodded curtly towards me. Eventually, my eyes tore away from them, and landed upon the King of Games.

My brother smirked at me from the other end of the arena, his arms folded, his custom Duel Disk shaped after his favorite monster already active. As I walked to my designated spot, I saw his deck glow, and suddenly I was staring at all of Matt's ace monsters.

Armed Dragon Lv. 7 snarled and dug its claws into the ground, spikes emerging from almost every place in its body. Horus the Black Flame Dragon Lv. 8 screeched and breathed out dark flames, its cry sounding like an eagle. Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End gave a roar that separated all the clouds above us, and then looked superiorly down upon me. Blue-Eyes White Dragon growled and raked the ground with its deadly sharp claws.

But none of those managed to freeze me in my tracks like Matt's two true ace cards did.

Red-Eyes Black Dragon gave a snort as it saw me, spitting out a large amount of flame as it prepared for battle. And above that, Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon seemed to collect shadows around itself, until it seemed like it was covered in darkness. But the darkness couldn't hide those demonic eyes, which seemed to stare deep into my soul and say, _You aren't worth any of my time._ I stood there, petrified by those terrifying eyes. I couldn't do this. It was just too hard-

Then Dark Magician grasped my shoulder again, and I felt calm again. I started forward.

The dark dragon then saw Dark Magician beside me, and the shadow parted from it, revealing its true, metallic form. It gave a bellowing roar, drowning out all the other dragon's cries. It seemed to be welcoming a rival, almost boasting a challenge. Dark Magician responded by twirling his staff and releasing a burst of magic that silenced the other dragons, besides Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon and its original form.

I gazed into Matt's face as I stopped about ten feet in front of him. "Hey, Matt." I said.

Matt smirked. "Aaron. I can see you've gotten stronger. But is it enough to beat me?" He held his arm out in front of him, displaying his Red-Eyes Duel Disk. Its Life Point counter suddenly set itself to 8000 points.

Hopefully, I thought, but I didn't respond. Instead, I activated my own Duel Disk - a standard one, nothing fancy - and slipped my deck into its slot. My own Life Point counter set itself to 8000 points.

This was it. The beginning of our long-awaited rematch. No holding back. I stared into Matt's face. No matter what way the duel went, I could tell this would have a huge impact on our lives.

"And now the duelists are all set! Brother versus brother! The ultimate case of sibling rivalry! This is sure to be one heck of a duel, folks!" The announcer practically yelled into his microphone.

I grinned slightly at this. That at least was one thing everyone could be sure of. Then I refocused. I looked at Matt, and we both shouted:

"LET'S DUEL!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!, and I never intend to.**

**Author's Note: All right. I got a review telling me I should continue the story and add the duel. Thanks Snowflake61 for being the first to review my story! I'm not sure if this duel will meet everyone's expectations, considering this is the first duel I've written, but I'm going to try my best.**

**And now…time to duel!**

* * *

"LET'S DUEL!"

We both drew five cards from our decks. I quickly inspected my hand, observing what I had. Three monsters and two spells. Not bad, but I'd prefer it if I had a trap card with me too.

"I'll let you go first, Aaron." Matt smirked at me. "That way you might have a chance of winning."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I muttered under my breath. "All right. My turn!" I drew a card and inspected it. A trap card! And just what I wanted too. "Okay, I'll start things off by setting a monster facedown in defense mode, and then set two more cards down as well." I slapped a monster onto my duel disk and then inserted two cards into my Spell card zone. The three cards shimmered into existence in front of me as the holograms worked their magic. "And I'll end my turn."

"Well now!" The announcer exclaimed into his microphone. "It seems like Aaron is setting up a solid wall of defense here! But everyone knows that breaking down walls is our King's specialty. The only question is how he'll break it!"

I groaned mentally. Even the announcer was rooting for my brother. This was going to be hard.

Matt snorted. "Always with the defense," He shook his head as he drew his card. "You might be able to keep me from your life points indefinitely, but if you want to win, you're going to have to attack me eventually. And I'll show you how, right now!" He placed a card on his duel disk. "I summon my Lord of D. to the field!"

Oh crap. That wasn't good. I watched as a man dressed entirely in dragon bone armor with a royal blue cape appeared on Matt's side of the field (ATK: 1200, DEF: 1100).

"And now, I'll activate the Spell card Flute of Summoning Dragons! I don't need to explain this card's effect, do I?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

I rolled my eyes. "You can special summon two Dragons from your hand. Go ahead."

"I don't need your permission." Matt scoffed. "Now, come out! Luster Dragon and Red-Eyes Black Dragon!"

I watched as a sapphire colored dragon that shone like a bright jewel appeared with a flash and a roar, beside Matt's ace card (ATK: 1900, DEF: 1600). Red-Eyes looked at me and gave a menacing growl as it clawed the ground (ATK: 2400, DEF: 2000). I pretended I wasn't intimidated by it, even though my hands started to shake. He already had two strong monsters on the field, and with his Lord of D. out, I couldn't target his Dragon types with any kind of effect. I had to take that monster out first.

"WOW! Would you look at that!" The announcer bellowed into his mic as the crowd erupted with cheers and applause. "His very first turn and he's already summoned his ace card! What an explosive start!"

"Now, Luster Dragon!" Matt yelled. "Attack his facedown card! Shining Breath!"

Luster Dragon roared and reared its head, opening its mouth and gathering rainbow colored energy. Then it whipped its head forward and released it, aiming at my facedown. It collided and created a huge explosion, the force of it whipping my hair and clothes back. A small knight about three feet tall riding a pony appeared briefly in the explosion before disappearing (ATK: 900, DEF: 500).

"My Little Trooper's effect activates!" I yelled before Matt could declare another attack. "Since he was destroyed by battle, I can special summon a Level 2 or lower Warrior monster from my deck facedown in Defense mode. And I choose another Little Trooper!" As I spoke, my Duel Disk immediately ejected the card from my deck. I pulled it out and slapped it onto the disk. That's one thing I loved about the new Duel Disk: if you activate a 'search deck' effect, you can just say the name of the card you want, and it'll automatically slide the card out so you don't have to shuffle through your cards.

Matt laughed. "Like that's going to keep me out! Lord of D., attack!" The spell caster raised his staff and pointed it at my facedown card.

"You're going to regret that move," I interrupted, pressing a button on my Duel Disk, causing one of my cards to flip up. "I activate my trap card, Sakuretsu Armor! Since your monster just attacked, I can use this card to destroy it!"

My trap glowed, and Lord of D. stiffened as spikes began emerging from his body. He struggled for a bit before falling to the ground and shattering into a million pieces.

Matt growled a little at that. I got the feeling that I had surprised him. "All right Red-Eyes! Time to do your thing! Inferno Fire Blast!" Red-Eyes gathered a ball of dark flame in its mouth before blasting it at my facedown. Another explosion, and I sent my Little Trooper to the graveyard, while bringing out another Little Trooper from my deck. "I'm done!" Matt stated, looking at me with a cocky expression on his face.

"WHAT! A! DUEL!" The announcer cried. "Matt started his first turn off with a vicious cycle of attacks, but Aaron calmly averted any damage to his Life Points! Not only that, but he still has a monster on the field! You can tell that Aaron's definitely improved since last we saw him!"

My hand twitched slightly. People laughed among the stands, and Matt chuckled a bit. I saw Henry in the stands pointing at me and laughing with some of his friends. Everyone was reminded of when I had sucked at dueling, and now they were all starting to laugh at me again.

I wasn't hurt this time though. I was angry.

I practically ripped the top card off my deck. "I play Cup of Ace!" I shouted over the laughter. "I flip a coin, and if it's heads, I get to draw two cards, but if it's tails, you get to draw two cards." As I spoke, a coin appeared in the middle of the field and soared into the air. Everyone watched it as it spun back towards the ground, where it landed with a resounding clink on heads. "All right, heads it is! I get to draw two cards." I drew two cards from my deck, and grinned. "Now I sacrifice my Little Trooper so I can summon my Heroic Challenger - War Hammer to the field!"

My facedown card faded out of sight, and replacing it was a warrior holding a huge hammer in his hands (ATK: 2100, DEF: 1300). "All right! It's HAMMER TIME, BABY!" War Hammer yelled as he slammed the ground with his weapon. "C'mon, big shot! I ain't afraid of you or your red eyes!" He taunted Matt's ace, who responded with loud growl.

I had to refrain from yelling at War Hammer. Normal people couldn't see or hear Duel Spirits, so they wouldn't be hearing War Hammer talk right now. I don't think yelling at my monster would help my situation other than making people question my sanity.

"Now I'll activate my spell card, Double Attack! With this, I can have War Hammer attack twice this turn as long as I discard a card that has more levels than he does." I discarded my Buster Blader from my hand into the graveyard. "Now, War Hammer! Attack Luster Dragon with Seismic Smash!"

"With pleasure!" War Hammer leapt into the air and spun his mace in his hands before landing in front of Luster Dragon and bringing his hammer down on the creature's neck. The dragon cried out in pain and then dissipated into a shower of light. Matt winced as he watched his dragon disappear, his Life Points dropping to 7800.

"Now War Hammer's effect activates!" I grinned. "Since he just destroyed a monster by battle, I can select it and equip that monster to War Hammer so it can gain that monster's attack points!"

The particles of light gathered in front of War Hammer, reforming the Luster Dragon. War Hammer swung a chain around the creature's neck, bringing it to him and sitting astride its back. War Hammer glowed with power, his attack increasing to 4000.

"And since I used Double Attack before, he gets to attack once again. Go, War Hammer! Destroy Red-Eyes with Earthshaker!" War Hammer soared through the air on Luster Dragon and swung his hammer at Red-Eyes, who roared defiantly and tried to counterattack. But War Hammer's attack collided first, and Red-Eyes exploded into sparks of light. Matt yelled as the wind tore at his clothes and his Life Points dropped to 6200. "And now I'll use War Hammer's effect again to equip Red-Eyes to him!" Immediately, Luster Dragon burst into light and reformed immediately as Red-Eyes, increasing War Hammer's attack to 4500.

War Hammer drew back to me, where he yelled triumphantly "HA! I told you I could handle this! And you said that I couldn't do it." He looked smugly at me, while Red-Eyes growled angrily below him.

I wanted to point out that I had never said that, but then I saw the expression on Matt's face and froze. He looked pissed. His hands shook at his sides, and a dark scowl came across his face. I'd never seen him look so angry before. "Er, I'll just set a card down and end my turn." I finished quickly, the card appearing next to my other facedown.

"What an amazing accomplishment!" The announcer's voice rang across the stadium. "Aaron not only destroy both of his opponent's monsters, but he also managed to be the first to deal damage! This has never happened in one of the King's duels before! This could be an interesting duel, folks! How will the King react to this turn of events?"

Matt didn't pay any mind to the announcer's words, though. He pulled a card off the top of his deck and glanced at it before smirking. "I activate Card of Sanctity. This lets us both draw until we have six cards in our hands." We both drew four cards to fill our respective hands, and Matt continued. "Since you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon my Hieratic Dragon of Tefnuit to the field." He slapped a card onto the field, and a holy-looking dragon with golden armor and pearly-white scales (ATK: 2100, DEF: 1400). "Since I just special summoned him using his effect, I can't attack this turn. But that doesn't matter, because now that I have a Dragon-type on the field, I can activate this: Stamping Destruction!" He held up a spell card and grinned as he activated it. "With this, I can destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field, and then inflict 500 damage to its controller. And since that equipped Red-Eyes counts as a Spell card, I can destroy it. Tefnuit, Stamping Destruction!"

Tefnuit remained silent, but flew over to Red-Eyes, its eyes as cold as ice. War Hammer tried to fend it off with his mace, but Tefnuit was too quick. It knocked War Hammer off of his mount and, with an air of controlled rage, smashed Red-Eyes into oblivion. "Oh, come on!" War Hammer complained as his attack dropped back to 2100. "I was using him!" Tefnuit ignored him, and turned its eyes to me. I didn't have time to brace myself before Tefnuit slammed me to the ground with its talons. I cried out in pain as my Life Points lowered to 7500.

I stood back up, shaking my head as I revealed a card in my hand. "I activate Damage Mage's effect! Since I just took damage from a card effect, I can special summon him from my hand and regain the damage I took!" I slapped the card onto my Duel Disk in defense mode, and a female magician with violet robes and black and white wings appeared (ATK: 600, DEF: 1200). She raised her white wing and showered me with glittering particles that restored my Life Points back to 8000.

"Whatever." Matt dismissed. "And now, I'll tribute Tefnuit to summon my Armed Dragon Lv. 5!" Tefnuit disappeared as a red dragon covered in spikes appeared in its place (ATK: 2400, DEF: 1700). "And since Tefnuit was Tributed, I can special summon one Dragon-type Normal monster from my hand, Deck, or Graveyard, as long as I reduce its attack and defense points to zero. So from my Graveyard, I special summon my Red-Eyes Black Dragon!" Matt's ace reappeared on the field with a loud roar before glowing with a purple light. I stared in confusion as Red-Eyes' attack and defense points fell to zero. Why would he special summon his ace with zero attack? It doesn't make any sense.

"And now I activate Inferno Reckless Summon!"

Oh crap.

"Since I just special summoned a monster with less than 1500 attack points, and since you have a face-up monster, I can special summon every monster with the same name as the one I special summoned to the field. So come out, Red-Eyes!" Two cards were ejected from Matt's deck, and he grabbed them and slapped both of them onto his Duel Disk. Two roars ensued, and suddenly I was staring at three Red-Eyes B. Dragons.

I forced myself to stay calm. It wasn't as my mind was telling me. Yeah, Matt had his three Red-Eyes out on the field, but one of them had zero attack points, and he's already used his Normal Summon for this turn, so it wasn't as if he could do anything to me-

"Next, I'll activate Inferno Fire Blast!"

Oh, _come on_!

"Since I have a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the field, I can select it and deal damage to you equal to its original attack points, as long as it can't attack this turn. And I choose the Red-Eyes that was summoned by Tefnuit! Go!" Red-Eyes reared its head and gathered all the air it could muster into its lungs. As it sucked its breath in, flames began to coil around inside its mouth. Then it expelled the flames at me, forming into a large fireball right as it collided with me. I screamed in pain as I was engulfed in flames, my Life Points falling to 5600.

"Now, Armed Dragon Lv. 5, attack War Hammer with Spiked Guillotine!" Armed Dragon Lv. 5 responded by flying at my warrior with its hands raised above its head. War Hammer realized too late what was happening, and tried to dive out of the way, but Armed Dragon Lv. 5 slammed its spiked fists into his head as he moved. I winced and turned away. My Life Points lowered to 5300.

"Red-Eyes, destroy Damage Mage! Dark Flame Shot!" Red-Eyes blasted my mage with a demonic fireball, destroying her completely. "Go Red-Eyes! Attack with Inferno Fire Blast!" I was buffeted by a combustion of fire again, and I slammed to the ground as my Life Points fell even further to 2900.

"I'll set a card facedown, and end my turn." Matt inserted a card into the Duel Disk and smirked at me as I regained my footing. "And since Armed Dragon Lv. 5 destroyed a monster by battle this turn, during the End Phase, he gets an upgrade. Armed Dragon, Level Up!" Armed Dragon Lv. 5 began to glow and grow bigger. Its spikes grew longer and sharper. Its armor grew shinier and more metallic. Huge spikes emerged from its shoulders, and its mouth grew sharp tusks. Then it stopped glowing and Armed Dragon Lv. 7 roared as it made its appearance on the field.

"WHAT A MOVE!" The announcer roared as the audience went insane. "Matt has dealt a whopping 5100 points of damage to Aaron on his second turn alone! Folks, I hate to say it, but this duel might end sooner than we thought!"

I scowled in anger and drew. I studied my hand, looking for any way that I could possibly make a comeback. I had a feeling that his facedown card was a Wall of Revealing Light. If he activated that, then I wouldn't be able to attack him depending on how many Life Points he paid. But if I made him pay more than he needed to, and used card effects to finish him off…

A strategy showed itself to me, and I grinned as I began my move. "All right! I'll start things off by summoning my Goblindbergh to the field." My goblin friend appeared above me in his red helicopter (ATK: 1400, DEF: 0000).

"All right, you four pieces of shit!" Goblindbergh yelled at the dragons, waving his arm in the air. "Time to show you fucking douches how a goddamn goblin does things!" And with that, he did several cartwheels in mid-air, expelling smoke until he had spelled _Dickasses_. Judging from the plumes of smoke coming from their nostrils, the dragons weren't amused.

"…Anyway," I deadpanned. "Since Goblindbergh was just Normal Summoned, I can special summon a Level 4 or lower monster from my hand, as long as I switch Gobby into defense mode. So let's go, Heroic Challenger - Night Watchman!" Goblindbergh assumed a defensive stance while a cloaked warrior with a lantern and shortsword appeared (ATK: 1200, DEF: 300).

"And now, since I have two Level 4 monsters on the field, I can Overlay them with each other. Go!" Night Watchmen and Gobby transformed into glowing pulses of energy. They flew into the air and began circling each other while the arena floor transformed into a galaxy.

"I construct the Overlay Network! Xyz Summon! Go! Heroic Champion - Excalibur!" The two strands of energy flew down into the center of the galaxy-floor and collided with each other, causing a bright flash of light to blind everyone in the stadium. When it faded, a warrior with red-black armor stood there with massive twin swords clutched in each hand (ATK: 2000, DEF: 2000). Two orbs of energy circled him as he stared at the dragons.

"Aaron." Excalibur's voice was low and quiet. "I sense War Hammer's presence was here. Is he…?"

"They took him out." I answered quietly. "I'm sorry."

Excalibur gave a brief nod. "Then I will avenge him. Do what you need to do."

I nodded and refocused onto the duel. "Okay, I'll activate Excalibur's effect! By removing his two Overlay Units, I can increase his attack points to double his original attack until the end of your next turn!" The two wisps of energy flew into the golden orb on his chest, and Excalibur was cloaked in a golden aura, his attack points increasing to 4000 points. "Next, I'll equip Excalibur with Lightning Blade, which increases his attack by eight-hundred points." The sword in his left hand disappeared and was replaced with a wickedly-sharp blade, increasing his attack to 4800. "Now Excalibur! Attack the Red-Eyes with zero attack power! Twin Lightning Cleave!" Excalibur brought his two swords together, lightning coursing through both weapons, and ran towards Red-Eyes, his eyes hard as steel.

I waited for Matt to activate his Wall of Revealing Light. He'd have to pay 5000 Life Points to stop my attack, which would leave him with 1200. Then I could set my Waboku to keep my monster from being destroyed and taking damage, and I could summon my Photon Crusher and use my Gift of the Martyr to sacrifice Crusher to increase Excalibur's attack points, and use Lucky Iron Axe to just barely get over the Wall's limit, and then win the duel. I waited as Excalibur reached Red-Eyes and raised his swords over his head. I waited and…

…Excalibur's attack connected with Red-Eyes.

Matt yelled in agony as the resulting explosion blew him off his feet, his Life Points dropping to 1400. He winced as he got to his feet, holding his arm as he looked at me. He was probably expecting me to be gloating about doing so much damage.

But I was completely floored. He didn't activate his facedown. So, it wasn't his Wall of Revealing Light. Then what was it?

"I…end my turn," I said dazedly, and immediately realized what I had done. Crap! I hadn't set Waboku down! Then I shook my head. There wasn't a monster in Matt's deck that could beat Excalibur right now, aside from a powered-up Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon. He'd be forced onto the defensive.

"Well, well, well!" The announcer sounded impressed. "I'll have to take back what I said before, folks! Matt may have his hands full with this challenger! It seems like Aaron has what it takes to beat our King!" The crowd was starting to chant my name. I felt my confidence begin to rise. They were cheering for me. They wanted me to win. I could do this.

I didn't notice Matt had drawn his card until he laughed. "That was an impressive move, Aaron, I'll give you that." He grinned at me. "But this card will guarantee my victory over you."

"Oh, really?" I laughed. "I know almost every card in your deck. I know your strategies. What can you pull out now?"

"This!" Matt inserted his card into the Duel Disk. "Polymerization!"

Wait. He didn't have that card two years ago.

"I fuse my two Red-Eyes and Armed Dragon Lv. 7 on the field, and Mirage Dragon and Luster Dragon in my hand!" The sapphire colored dragon and a yellow dragon that seemed intangible appeared above Matt's head. All five of his dragons flew at each other and collided in a white explosion.

"Come out! My ultimate monster! Five-Headed Dragon!" Matt roared. The light faded, and standing there…

Standing there was…

My brain tried to tell my eyes that I was imagining things. My eyes told my brain that this was real.

A huge dragon almost half the height of Duel Tower looked down at me with its five heads, its five pair of eyes regarding me like I was an ant to be crushed. One head looked almost like a sea serpent, another spiked looking like a desert salamander. The third head looked metallic, almost like a robot. The fourth was made entirely of flame. And the final head was the head of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon.

My legs gave out, and I landed on my knees, staring at this behemoth of a monster. This was…absolutely terrifying.

"Five-Headed Dragon, meet Aaron. Aaron, meet Five-Headed Dragon." Matt started to laugh mirthlessly. "This is the beginning of the end, Aaron! Say good-bye to your chances of winning this duel!"


End file.
